Ripples
by Minor Arcana
Summary: One-shot. The climactic ending of Kaiba’s duel against Pegasus triggers something darker then just the CEO losing his soul. Even Pegasus can’t see what awakens within the ancient artefact he possesses.


**Disclaimer**: Yu-Gi-Oh isn't mine. If it was, I'd be as rich as Seto Kaiba himself. (Well, probably not, but you get the idea…) The second scene was written by my beta-reader, Pamster, and edited by me.

**Summary**: One-shot. The climactic ending of Kaiba's duel against Pegasus triggers something darker then just the CEO losing his soul. Even Pegasus can't see what awakens within the ancient artefact he possesses.

-o-

**Ripples**

-o-

"Take that empty shell away," Pegasus ordered. "Teach it to wash dishes or something."

As the lifeless body of a young brunette was unceremoniously dragged away, neither Pegasus nor Yugi and his friends could sense the foreboding slivers of darkness that were slowly congealing together inside the confines of the Sennen Eye. So Yugi and his friends remained unaware as the strands pulled themselves together, transforming from mere fragments of energy into something that was becoming fully self-aware.

_After all these years I'm finally awake…_

Inside the Sennen Eye, the spirit of a man encased in a black cloak was lying horizontal in the blackness, his arms crossed across his chest as he contemplated his situation. The last thing he could remember was sealing himself in the Eye he had possessed, so where was he now?

The man continued to lie in the darkness that surrounded him, still trying to get his bearings after his long slumber. Suddenly, he could sense that he was not alone and this snapped him to his senses. There was a faint glimmer of lights in the distance that were fluttering about like fireflies, followed by a sound.

_I can't believe this has happened to me. What an embarrassment_, a familiar voice echoed, as if folding its arms in disbelief.

_Set! _Recognising the soul behind the voice, the old man's breath caught in his throat. _Is that you?_

The priest waited for an answer but soon discovered that the void was as empty as he remembered it being upon his arrival so long ago. If that had been Set he had disappeared; the lights that had been in the distance had vanished. Focusing his mind, he could tell that whatever soul had been with him for that fleeting moment had now vanished from the Eye, presumably transferred to another place.

This matter weighing heavily on his mind, the spirit then rose from where was lying and subconsciously shook off millennia of dust from his person. He then raised a hand to his face, recognising what had shocked him into awakening at this moment in time.

Akunadin knew full well who he had been when he had once walked the earth in mortal form. Now freed of that life and cast into the next, he wondered what he could have done differently to achieve his one most important goal: seeing his beloved son on the throne.

"Set? Son, where are you now? Why is it when you're so close, so finally within reach, that you're pulled away from me once again?" Akunadin murmured.

But then he stopped. If it were as he suspected, Set would have died long ago.

"But that was unmistakably the soul of my son," the priest contemplated. "Is it possible he walks the earth once again? What sort of world is this that I have awoken to?"

Akunadin's head bowed in thought; a new world, a new chance and a new beginning. The white-haired priest then smiled to himself beneath his mask. A new chance for vengeance upon the one whom had ruined his plans. Sinking into meditation, the spirit began to expand his conscious into the vessel that he now existed within through the magic of the Sennen Eye.

-o-

Pegasus sat watching the group on the balcony from his side of the dueling field. Inwardly, the silver-haired man laughed as he thought about what he had in store for little Yugi. 

_Taking Kaiba-Boy's soul was child's play and taking your soul will be just as easy. It and your Sennen Puzzle will soon be mine, Yugi-Boy,_ Pegasus thought.

Akunadin gasped as he found himself seeing through the eyes of the person the thought belonged to. A man who apparently had his own agenda for stealing souls and manipulating others using the powers of the Sennen Eye that Akunadin had created. Through the man's gaze, he had recognised a familiar aura surrounding a boy on the balcony; an evil aura that belonged to someone he had known in the past, the King of Thieves, Bakura.

_What a strange turn of events, to see that you're back as well. But I expected you'd return one day. Though that boy wearing the ring can't hide it from my sight, I know everyone else is ignorant of the dark soul residing in that item,_ thought Akunadin, his presence within the Eye unbeknownst to Pegasus.

To the left of the white-haired boy was someone who Akunadin could not believe looked so like his old enemy from the past. Yet there was no mistaking the likeness. The pointed spiky hair with its blonde highlights against purple and black locks was almost identical to that of the cursed offspring of his brother, but how was such a thing possible? He then noticed the pyramid-shaped pendant hanging from the boy's neck.

_Is it possible that this is the new body my nephew inhabits? If that is so then why do I sense such a dark power coming from the Sennen Puzzle? I need to keep an eye on both of them and observe their actions. If this means what I think it might then I will have another chance to defeat him, and that white-haired fool just might be useful enough to me as a tool to get what I want._

And the one thing Akunadin wanted more then anything was to see his son again and to see him ruling over others. This world was strange to be sure, but through this man Pegasus, he would learn all he could about it and the two teens that had dark secrets that he intended to exploit to the fullest. Yes, he would make good use of this knowledge and make his move when the time was right. If anything, lying dormant in the Sennen Eye had given Akunadin the value of patience. He knew that he had plenty of time to make certain he did not make the same mistakes that he had made so long ago that had led to his defeat.


End file.
